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Mr. Obama uses last trip as president to express concerns about the potential fracturing of Europe’s political order

In a speech in Athens on Wednesday, President Obama addressed the transition to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, acknowledging their differences, but urging a continuing faith in democracy. Photo: Reuters

ATHENS—President Barack Obama said Wednesday that America’s election of Donald Trump and the U.K.’s vote to leave the European Union reflect a political uprising in the West over economic inequities spawned by leaders’ mishandling of globalization.

“The current path of globalization demands a course correction,” Mr. Obama said, in a speech in the Greek capital defending the institution of democracy.